Released about 18 months ago, the Taurus GX2 series is the company’s most affordable 9mm pistol. Heck, with retail prices starting around $249 it’s one of the very most affordable centerfire pistols on the market. Brand new to the GX2 line are T.O.R.O. (Taurus Optics Ready Option) models for budget-minded shooters who still want to rock a pistol optic. I took one for a test drive and was truly impressed.
How impressed? Watch the video above (and please subscribe to the Shooting News Weekly channel!) to see my reaction after the first two shots. That’s all it took to be legitimately impressed at just how flat and soft-shooting the GX2 is. The dang thing barely moves in my hands and I was able to track the front sight the whole time.
I expect that from a competition gun, but to get it from a sub-compact, polymer-frame, concealed carry pistol is just wild. Not to mention from one of the least expensive pistols available.
Some of this is due to the ergonomics. The GX2 fits wonderfully in the hand and it’ll fit wonderfully for just about anyone despite lacking any grip size adjustment (e.g. swappable backstraps). The grip frame is noticeably small, yet contoured and curved really nicely.
Somehow it’s small enough to work for tiny hands, but still felt good in my large hands. The stippling style texture is also spot-on, offering an appropriate level of grip while being just fine for concealed carry where it may contact your skin.
It’s pretty standard fare on the inside, but they’ve obviously nailed the combination of double recoil spring and action timing. A gun simply doesn’t shoot this flat if the timing of the barrel unlocking and the spring rates aren’t working together correctly.
I found it weirdly difficult to rotate the locking lug downward in order to field strip the GX2 T.O.R.O., which may be my only complaint with the pistol. Well, shipping with only one 13-round magazine is something I’d usually complain about, but given the MSRP here, I’ll let it slide.
While I’d just as soon not have a manual thumb safety on a self-defense pistol, I take no real issue with the design and operation of the GX2’s. Clicking it up into “safe” takes a specific effort, but snicking it off happens more easily with a clean snap and less resistance. It’s perhaps slightly far to the rear for my hand size, but I found sweeping it off with my thumb while taking a normal firing grip to be fairly second nature.
A modern looking, flat-face trigger with safety blade is found inside the enlarged trigger guard. Previous iterations of the budget-priced Taurus polymer 9mms earned poor reputations for trigger pull quality, but I think the GX2’s trigger is perfectly suited for self-defense and concealed carry use, and it ain’t half bad.
There’s a little bit of slack but then the break is fairly crisp with only a small bit of creep that can be felt if you’re pulling the trigger slowly and looking for that. Under normal firing conditions I’d call it crisp and nice. With a break weight around 5.5-or-so pounds I think it’s completely appropriate for a self-defense pistol.
Reset is just a touch longer and not quite as pronounced as I’d like, but I’d still call it good by most striker-fired, polymer pistol standards.
The sights are nothing to write home about, but they follow my generally preferred layout of an all-black, serrated rear sight and a more visible front sight. Sure, I’d prefer a nicer front dot, perhaps even one with Tritium illumination, but most of those cost a quarter of what this entire GX2 will run you.
Of course, this new release is all about being optics-ready so perhaps dropping a few bucks on a micro red dot or reflex sight is the way to go instead. How about a ZeroTech Thrive HD Micro Reflex for $119 after using coupon code SNW20? Just a thought.
Yes, I admit it, despite this gun being entirely about the T.O.R.O. optics-ready system (which I’ve used on a GX4, for the record), I didn’t have a chance to mount an optic to this one. We got our hands on it just a few days before today’s release and I wanted to get these first impressions published. I’ll put another few hundred rounds through the GX2 T.O.R.O. — with an optic — next week and will add a follow-up here after doing so.
Suffice it to say that I was extremely impressed and surprised with how very well the GX2 shot. It’s fast, it’s flat, it shoots with great control and accuracy, and it ate up 100 rounds of cheap range ammo like nothin’, right out of the box. The GX2 feels great in the hand, has a solid 13+1 capacity in a sub-compact size, and is optics-ready all for about three bills. That’s pretty impressive!
Specifications: Taurus GX2 T.O.R.O.
Caliber: 9×19
Capacity: 13+1
Barrel Length: 3.38 inches
Overall Length: 6.19 inches
Height: 4.89 inches
Width: 1.18 inches
Weight: 19 ounces
MSRP: $300
Alright Jeremy. This better be good. I ordered on of those lil red dots. I’m trusting you on this. I’ll go hunting the pistol in the coming days.